Internet Sales Tax Unlikely in This, or Next, Congress

Legislation to authorize a sales tax for Internet commerce is almost certain not to pass the lame-duck 113th Congress, The Washington Examiner reported.

Separately, customers of Internet service providers such as Comcast or Verizon will continue to enjoy a moratorium on having to pay taxes for access to those services at least until Sept. 30, 2015, the Examiner reported.

The absence of an Internet commerce sales tax benefits online merchants such as Amazon, while leaving traditional brick-and-mortar retailers at a disadvantage.

Amazon is supposed to collect sales taxes in 23 states.

Proponents of a congressionally mandated Internet tax say it is otherwise difficult to get consumers to pay sales taxes to state and local governments. States claim to be losing billions of dollars in revenue.

Congress would have to empower states and local governments to collect taxes on online sales, the Examiner reported.

The National Retail Federation, which has been lobbying for an Internet sales tax, says it will be make another push for the tax next year.

Both House Speaker John Boehner and incoming Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell are known to oppose an Internet tax, making it doubtful the tax could pass in a 114th Congress, in which both chambers will be in Republican hands.

Prospects for Internet taxation are further dimmed because nine of its supporters in the Senate were defeated in November, the Examiner reported.

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